Not because of the difficulty, its because of all the toxic players. I've read many stories on this board about the toxicity and the stupidity of bronze players. So, is it really that bad?
EDIT: Thanks so much for the support! I'll try ranked as soon as I get better at league and find my main. Thank you all for the feed back, helps a lot.
IcyPepper6 votesFirst ranked game I play:
Jungler: "WHY DO I GET ALL THE BAD TEAMS"
took all my willpower not to retort with "Must be the common denominator."
Tyvani4 votesThat's pretty clever, but good job keeping your cool. :)
freeformline1 votes"If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole."
tofutime5 votesI've stopped caring about other players in ranked. I just play my own game and hope to improve. I had a rager who last picked locked in ADC ezreal when we already had an ADC lucian and no support. So I just muted him and played my own game. We ended up winning the game with 2 adcs going bot and largely losing their lane hard.
If you have a mindset of just concentrating on yourself the game becomes a lot easier. I know I have a lot to improve on and I can change that. The one thing I can't change? My teammates. So it's best to just let them be.
DrProfVibeCheck2 votesThat's a nice mindset to have....but what happens if your in a team fight or contesting for drag or baron? I understand that worrying about yourself is a good thing to do, but in the end, League is a team game. There is no "I" in League of Legends.
tofutime4 votesYeah there are some "unwinnable" games no matter what you do but there are pros with high win rates for a reason. You can carry games if you are good and getting good should be your goal in ranked. Also, League doesn't always have to be about teamfights. If you believe your team has inferior teamfighting don't contest when the enemy is grouped. You can pressure your lane and shove hard to their inhib turrets. This pressures the enemy to back or force a really bad fight because they need to do something or lose their base.
Eventually the bad teammates and bad enemies you get will even out over time and with more games played so the only real constant factor in this equation is yourself.
I think a lot of rage over ranked is when people only remember the one time they had a complete noob on their team and they forgot the time when the enemy team had a 0/10 adc. They only remember the bad.
Kikirino3 votesI can't speak about Bronze players but this has got to be the least toxic/afk filled season I have played in. I am actually enjoying myself again.
blueberrypancake1 votesAgreed, I actually don't have that many problems in normals and I've only had one rager in URF so far.
Ligerzz2 votesIDK. I don't play ranked, and probably never will cause i'm too much of a casual player, but you have to start somewhere, and that somewhere seems to be the most hated place in the ranked system.
"Started at the bottom..."
Tabs2 votesPlay to improve, not to win. If you do this you will get better, regardless of the outcome of the game
Seenan2 votesIf you're good, you'll probably end up with 'should-be' won games, with a bunch of your moronic teammates losing the game for you cause they suck or get picked off late game or both. My experience so far in bronze after falling from gold 5/silv (and placement matches being straight up retard placing me in br2).
JLaww2 votesThere does tend to be more toxic players but that's because of the more competitive atmosphere. It'll easy to be teamed up with players who are on tilt. Honestly, if you want to play ranked but are scared of the toxicity, just insta-mute players right when they say something negative or toxic. Makes the game more peaceful when you can concentrate on yourself and winning. Believe it or not, the things other players can say WILL impact your own performance, good or bad.
Sinister Snail2 votesYeah, I just try to do my best. The hardest part is knowing when to engage with your teammates: if your contribution could turn the fight, or your tank just dove into the 1v4 at baron while everyone else is turtling.
Well it usually isn't that clear-cut, but you get the gist.
bulldoggamer2 votesThe toxicity isn't as terrible as people make it out to be. You will run into a toxic player about 1 in 10 games. But you just have to learn to deal with the sheer stupidity of other players.
PatMcGroyn2 votesI say you should play ranked if you enjoy competition and trying hard. The flamers are annoying, but I've learned to just laugh them off, mute them, and TELL THEM I've muted them. Most of the time, pings are all you need to communicate.
Tsunday1 votesDo you play draft pick normals? You should have a bit of experience in the picks and bans in draft pick normals before you do ranked. Basically blond pick normals ends up with more crappy team comps than ranked and draft pick ends up with more troll picks and ragera, in my experience
DrProfVibeCheck1 votesNo no no, I'm not talking about the system of ranked, I'm talking about the players themselves. Trolls, unskilled players, noob supports, a person trying a champ for the first time, etc. Im not afraid of the ranked system itself, I'm afraid that I'll never get to climb the ladder no matter how good I am because of bad teammates.
Tsunday2 votesWhat I said still stands? Let me just repeat myself:
Ranked has less crappy team comps that would normally throw your games. You're less likely to lose because 2 ADCs in ranked than in normals
Ranked has less troll picks that lose you games than draft pick does. You're less likely to lose because you have a Teemo jungle in ranked than in normals.
Ranked has less ragers that AFK and lose you games than draft pick does. You're less likely to lose because of an AFK since all of those ragers/AFKers get banned from ranked until they do X normal draft pick games.
Climbing the ladder is a lot different of a story though. If you tank your MMR by going on massive losing streaks then you're going to have a hard time. But you're the only consistent factor in your games. Bad teammates might hold you down for a day and you might drop some LP overall in a day, but over time you will get where you deserve to be if you play enough games and you play them while you aren't in tilt and don't do stupid shit like try to play Trundle top when you've played 2 Trundle games in your life.
arcinex1 votesWhat I said still stands? Let me just repeat myself:
Ranked has less crappy team comps that would normally throw your games. You're less likely to lose because 2 ADCs in ranked than in normals
Ranked has less troll picks that lose you games than draft pick does. You're less likely to lose because you have a Teemo jungle in ranked than in normals.
Ranked has less ragers that AFK and lose you games than draft pick does. You're less likely to lose because of an AFK since all of those ragers/AFKers get banned from ranked until they do X normal draft pick games.
Climbing the ladder is a lot different of a story though. If you tank your MMR by going on massive losing streaks then you're going to have a hard time. But you're the only consistent factor in your games. Bad teammates might hold you down for a day and you might drop some LP overall in a day, but over time you will get where you deserve to be if you play enough games and you play them while you aren't in tilt and don't do stupid shit like try to play Trundle top when you've played 2 Trundle games in your life.
If anything there are more tryhards in normal draft and much better team comps in normal draft than in ranked. In ranked it would be a miracle if you get a game without a completely troll off-meta and unviable pick.
Tsunday1 votesMore tryhards because of the restrictions. I honestly don't think that normals has better team comps. I always get a troll support every time I play ADC in norms draft, but most of my ranked team comps are fine.
Spacesuit Spiff1 votesTrust me, it's possible to climb if you have a good strategy to deal with the rank you're in. I got tossed in silver 5 this season, was in gold 5 two days later. It's just hard to figure out how to do that if you're only playing against silvers.
Auryiel1 votesNo.
I was like you and I didn't play ranked because of GD (old forums) for the longest time, but then when the teaser for S3's Victorious skin came out I really wanted it, so I decided to go into ranked and it really wasn't that bad. Keep a positive attitude, try to be a leader, know at least 3 roles (back then, playing support was not fun for most people, so being able to Mid, support and AD Carry was more than enough) and don't start arguing with people over small things. If you try to help someone and they don't want your help, move on and accept that the game is probably lost. There will be other games to play and as long as you try your best, you've done all you can.
In the long run, games can only be as shitty as you make them.
p.s. I've never been bronze, so I dunno if this applies to the lowest brackets, as I've only ever played in Silver and Gold (which isn't that high, either).
freeformline1 votesI have only played three ranked games and all of them were at least a standard deviation more toxic than my average normal game. That said, I usually stick to playing with friends on SR or playing ARAMs, so my sample may be a tad biased. My ranked games were also a little biased, as they either had a Vayne Main (I'm a support main), an auto-lock Bard (the day after he was released), or people picking squishy carry-types into a team already full of nothing but squishy carry-types. If I play ranked again when I am more comfortable with roles outside bot lane, I will mostly stick to weeknights and stay away after champ releases. My duo buddy tells me it isn't always really bad, but it is usually a higher stress environment because most people play to win and get upset if things don't go the way they expect.
Saianna1 votesTrolls & afkers as a cherry on the pie.
Mooing Kev1 votesThere's always trash talk,bm toxic behavior in every online game you play usually in very small percentages. Doesn't affect me too much just play the game and move on to next. Some games are simply not winnable so you just gotta deal with it.
Fueled By Coffee1 votesA good tip is not to care what others think, and mute anyone you think is going to harass you as you enter the game. Its better for you to focus and not see there nasty wall of text about why you missed a hook because the enemy flashed.
Just remember in the end its merely an online game and youre never gonna see those players again, so just brush off the toxic ones and if you can, try and make a duo partner or a ranked 5 with friends.
Spacesuit Spiff1 votesYeah. Yeah it is. So let me tell you something I wish I'd known:
You don't need to win every game. If you're knowledgeable and experienced, you'll naturally climb even if you get a string of bad teams. That may seem daunting, but it's pretty easy to improve your play if you can figure out what the next thing you need to work on is. So don't worry about shitty bronze games, just improve your play and you'll climb. It may seem impossible to carry the hard games, but diamonds are in diamond for a reason and part of it is seeing all the opportunities you aren't used to looking for, and they would destroy any bronze game.
ok ill fed then1 votesBeen through bronze-gold from seasons 3-5. Not as bad as people make it out to be on boards.
Occams Raiser1 votesIts just like Normals. Nothing to be afraid of.
Krys Star1 votesYes, it really is bad. If you're having a bad game, you will be accused of being carried/boosted. There's no such thing as a bad game in Ranked to most players. You will also be bashed for every little thing you do. But there are also good players out there too. It's just you only ever hear complaints about the bad players, and never about the good players. Just be careful with what you say, and mute whoever's being toxic. Enjoy the game at your own pace! :)
Kaisha1 votesIt is far worse than anything you can imagine. I once carried the game from support as nautilus (before he was popular then nerfed) going 15/0 or something silly and got flamed/reported for 'kill stealing' from our absolutely abysmal adc. I have played many online game and never have I experienced such a level of toxicity that is the ranked league community.
junglerboy161 votesthen don't bother going into ranked. Simple as that. I don't play ranked because I don't want to get myself labeled by a rank, but not going in because of the toxicity is also plenty of reason to just enjoy yourself in normals.
jimmylism1 votesEncourage your team and stand up for your teammates getting flamed at, it helps them from tilting.
Keitron1 votesSuck it up butter cup are you 8 to be so scared? Take the words in the ass and shit it out so it doesn't effect you.
DrProfVibeCheck1 votesI'm not scared of the words xD. I'm scared because those toxic players or noons might cost games.
Keitron1 votesIs that an excuse to losing?
DrProfVibeCheck1 votesApparently it is. Other people in this thread think so...
Keitron1 votesThat's cause i carried myself out with support karthus and got plat
Pikmints1 votesI find that there's about 1 rager in every 2 games I play (either my team or enemy team). If I were to give you advice though, playing on the weekends or in the evening are when things get the worst. All the people playing are people who aren't in school and your odds look a little better.
That being said, I've lately taken up liberally using the mute function unless I'm receiving hints that the person is going to do something report-worthy in which case I watch them crash so I can report it.
Edbwn1 votesSure, you'll get toxicity every now and then, but hey, you're on the boards. People aren't gonna post on the boards about any NORMAL game they play, they pretty much post about the awesome ones or the horrible ones. Go play ranked if you feel ready, and good luck! :)
Xela Syab1 votesHell it's the afk's and bad internet players that ruin rank, Atleast with trolls you have someone who gets random cs and maybe even kills in lane.
SleepyLionCub1 votesYou probably get some toxicity in normal games.
Just imagine how many people will be toxic when those games actually matter... If you think there would be less toxic people, bless your pure soul.
MAZZ1M01 votesWorse. Problem is it's a variety of factors that cause it. You'll have twits who think they're amazing and suck. You'll have the occasional poor soul with garbage luck and gets paired with scrubs all the time (so by the time he gets to you, he's raging and so pissed off he can't win lane.) You'll have the trolls. You'll have the flamers who're pissed off because of trolls. You'll just have flamers. You'll have lots of feeders. You'll have feeders who play nice and even work as a team (these are my favorite) but are just so hilariously bad it's clear they jumped right into ranked as soon as they hit 30 and can't help but feed because they don't know what they're doing wrong or don't know how to "play passive/safe." You'll also run into intentional feeders who just want to screw people over. Don't forget the lagfests. People think ranked is okay (they shouldn't even play LoL) even though they have 80000000 ping and a framerate of .001. And then there's best for last, the bane of LoL's existence, the damn afk's which are surprisingly common.
I started a tally last year to count the percentages of these players in my games; I stopped because it was bad for my mental health to look at it data. I've considered trying again so we can get some real examples to show the community and Riot, but I don't know if I can do it. They piss me off so much I typically forget to report everyone and message friends on LoL raging about a stupid twit or troll or afk who threw the game. What's sad is they usually laugh and invite me to play with them. Most of my friends are gold and above. The grass seems greener up there sometimes. I don't find the grind through bronze worth anything. The pretty borders are nice, but not worth all that. I've also seen plats get stomped by silvers so I don't place any value in rank correlating to skill on an individual level.
tldr: Elo hell is real.
The Y2J Problem1 votesI'm honestly in the same as the OP. If I had to go into ranked, I'd probably just insta-mute the first person to start raging at anything. It's what I do normally, plus I've turned off All Chat as well.
That's actually a good idea for most people who want to avoid flaming. Think about it, how many times have you had a conversation with another person on the other team that was a lovely experience? I think I can count the amount of times this has happened on one hand.
SS Enforcer1 votesSometimes you think that it cannot get worse... but it always does. I've been playing this game for 4 years and i still don't think that i've seen everything. Altough i encourage you to play ranked, because it feels so good to climb upwards and leave the scum of elohell behind.
WhiskerWow1 votesI don't think there are much more toxic players on rank, but the tensions are higher so a lot of neutral-lower players might snap. I rarely get blame, because I always act nice and positive and try to instill "WE CAN DO THIS" into our team's head. Try it for a few games if you're curious. Worse case scenario, you go back to normals.
JustMyBassCannon1 votesI've had a good experience; I've slowly been playing Ranked, and so far, I've gotten teams that worked together and paid attention to what was happening. Maybe I'm just really lucky with matchmaking, but players seem to care a bit more when the games are going to affect their reputation.